Thirty years ago, charter schools embodied possibility. They were envisioned as nimble, innovative, community-driven alternatives to traditional public schools -- laboratories of experimentation led by teachers and grounded in equity. The grand bargain was clear: more freedom from regulations and bureaucracy in exchange for heightened…

With just months to go until the nation's overhauled K-12 law goes into effect, state policymakers are still scrambling to firm up the infrastructure for their education systems, under the new blueprint laid out in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). They're doing it at a time of political change and policy uncertainty at the national level,…

Discusses how declining state appropriations, rising demands for access, and steady pressures for new accountability have cast public higher education in a new light. Offers ways of dealing with the implications of these trends. (EV)

Reviews the effects of Proposition 13 on staffing and programs in California's community colleges. Describes a long-term finance plan that recommends: (1) no major changes in mission, goals, or priorities; (2) a marginal cost concept of support; (3) maintaining similar support patterns; and (4) overhauling the accountability system. (AYC)

This study focuses on the political feasibility of some of the alternatives open to States for raising educational revenue and allocating funds to local school districts. Eight states -- California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Oregon -- were chosen for study, to represent a range in (1) the level of State…

Shrinking state funding and pressure for accountability are forcing institutions of higher education to overhaul their missions, take stock of their spending, and inevitably, reorganize themselves as they prepare for an increasingly competitive college market. Data on average state tuition increase, and appropriations to higher education are…

The recent dramatic growth of postsecondary education is reviewed, and the context in which the state legislature and the higher education community will probably interact in the future is described. The era of rapid economic growth following World War II was accompanied by even more rapid increases in demand for college educated workers.…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 poses unique challenges for rural schools and districts. Small schools are more likely to be labeled as needing improvement due to the volatility of annual test scores for small student populations. Rural districts are limited in their capacity to provide parents with school choice, and rural districts face…